**Mexico: Chiapas Highlands: The Weaver's Tale
Luz Ruiz hears how a young Tzotzil woman is trying to bridge the gapbetween old and new in the Chiapas highlands.
Date published: 02/09/2003 Duration: 00:04:30
It's not long ago that indigenous people from Mexico'sChiapas highlands were forbidden to walk on the pavements in the town ofSan Cristobal de Las Casas. The Spanish conquerors drove the localIndian Tzeltal and Tszotzil people out of the town and up into thesurrounding highlands nearly five hundred years ago and the twocommunities have remained separate since then. The mountain people stillused the town as a commercial centre but even then, they could only selltheir coffee, produce and handicrafts from stalls in the streets. But inthe '90s all this changed when the Zapatista rebels from the Chiapashighlands burst on to the world stage, demanding more rights forindigenous people - especially over land.
As San Cristobal got caught upin the protests, people from the highlands began moving much more freelybetween town and the mountains. This two-way traffic has brought newquestions and challenges, common to mountain communities around theworld - how to reap the benefits of the modern ways of livingexperienced in the towns and yet not leave behind the traditions oftheir centuries old cultures. Rosalinda Sanchez is a 24 year-old Tzotzilwoman, she weaves for a living in San Cristobal and has experienced thetricky transition of moving from her mountain village of Mayalemuj tothe city of San Cristobal. Luz Ruiz went to meet her...


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